Gustavo Fring
Gustavo "Gus" Fring was a Chilean national and respected Albuquerque restaurateur, business magnate, and philanthropist. He owned a successful chain of fast food chicken restaurants, Los Pollos Hermanos. A drug kingpin, Gus secretly used his chain of restaurants as a legitamate cover for an extremely successful methamphetamine distribution network in the southwestern United States. He used his position as a businessman to hide in plain sight while he built his illicit drug empire step by step. Gus is first an ally and then a formidable adversary for Walter White. He was the main antagonist throughout Season 4. Character History Early life Little is known about Gus' past, except that he originally came from Chile. He then immigrated to Mexico in 1986, an a few years later he was granted an entry visa into the United States . While Gus is a Chilean national, Hank mentions that there are no records of anyone by that name ever living there. Gus explains this by saying that General Augusto Pinochet's government was "guilty of a great many sins: first and foremost were his human rights abuses, but it was also notoriously unreliable about keeping records" . Mike reassures Gus that if he can't find out anything about him before he emigrated from Mexico (1989), it is unlikely that the DEA will either. In the late 80's, Gus and his partner, a gifted chemist named Maximino Arciniega, started a chain of Los Pollos Hermanos restaurants in Mexico. They developed a high-class strain of meth under cover of the pair's burgeoning chicken restaurant bsiness. Hoping to strike up a partnership with the Mexican cartel, they hooked up the foot soldiers of its head figure, Don Eladio, with samples of their product. Gus and Max's pitch is for Eladio to diversify his Colombian cocaine distribution operation with a homegrown product, one whose production he controls and whose profits he need not pass along to a supplier. But Eladio finds their approach less clever and more disrespectful; they produced drugs in his territory and maneuvered him into a meeting. As his henchman Hector "Tio" Salamanca shoots Maximilio in the head as punishment for this impertience, Eladio tells Gustavo that the only reason he’s still alive is “because I know who you are” - an allusion that suggests Don Elaido knows about Gustavo's still mysterious Chilean past. Gus later immigrated to the United States and set up his network there with more Los Pollos Hermanos locations. At some point in his career, Gus fostered a connection with a German conglomerate called Madrigal Electromotive GmbH. He eventually formed an uneasy alliance with the cartel once they decided to enter the meth business after all. Despite having been in business in New Mexico for nearly twenty years, it was only shortly before his death that anyone suspected his involvement in criminal activities. He conducted his business with extreme caution, never dealing with drug addicts or those he saw as irrational or having poor judgment. This was due in large part to his established role as a legitimate businessman in Albuquerque. Gus lived in a typical suburban neighborhood, playing the role of a socially conscious philanthropist. His loved ones did not know about his real business activities; it would be easy to assume he simply spent his days managing his restaurants and attending functions and banquets. He offered a cash reward for the info on Hank Schrader's attempted assassination. He also sat on the board of at least one ABQ hospital. Season 2 Gus is introduced to Walter and Jesse after the two's failed efforts to sell their meth leads to their street dealers either being killed (Combo), arrested (Badger), or quitting (Skinny Pete). Saul Goodman makes the blunt observation "You two suck at peddling meth," but as the two still have 38 pounds remaining, Saul offers to connect them with a distributor through "a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy." Saul manages to arrange a meeting between Walt, Jesse and the distributor at a Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant, but when Jesse turns up for the meeting late, high and agitated, the distributor does not make contact. Saul says later they likely blew their chance, but Walt, after some consideration, returns to the restaurant on his own. Asking to see the manager - Gus, who had stopped by their table during the earlier visit to the restaurant to see if they were enjoying their meal - Walt deduces that Gus is their contact after all. He praises Gus for his discipline and caution, saying that he sees the two as alike in that regard. Gus then drops his facade, saying that Walter is not cautious at all and exhibits poor judgment by bringing the obviously high Jesse to a meeting. Walt counters that the quality of his product should outweigh any of these concerns and that Gus will never have to see or deal with Jesse. Gus demurs on whether or not the two will deal, but then on a later visit by Walt he is approached by Gus' henchman, Victor, with a final deal: $1.2 million for the remaining 38 pounds, delivered in one hour or not at all . After the deal goes down, we see Gus with two other local businessmen meeting Hank at the DEA Albuquerque office regarding a "fun run" they are sponsoring. Gus notices Walt's photo on a donation jar and asks if Walt is an agent. Hank explains that Walt is his brother-in-law and that he is fighting lung cancer. While it is implied that Gus already looked into Walt's background before making the deal, this confirms Gus is aware of Walt's health issues and family connection to the DEA . Season 3 Following the success of the previous deal, Gus invites Walt back to Los Pollos Hermanos and makes a new offer: $3 million for three months of his time. It is later learned that Gale Boetticher - the chemist who assembled Gus's superlab - assured Gus that Walt's meth is extremely pure, and thus Gus reconsidered and decided he wished to hire Walt. Walt, seriously jarred by the plane collision over Albuquerque and his separation from Skyler, refuses the offer by claiming he is not a criminal and wants to be done with the business . Gus seems to accept this, but later, when Gus' right hand man Mike calls Gus' henchman Victor to inform him that the Cousins are ready to kill Walt, he uses his influence with the cartel to call off the hit . Meeting with Juan Bolsa, the Cousins and Tio Salamanca, Gus is told that the cartel holds Walt responsible for the death of Tuco - an important man in their organization - and that his execution has been sanctioned. Gus says that while he has no issues with their right to vengeance, he is presently in business with Walt and does not want him killed until that business has concluded. Bolsa agrees to advise the Salamanca family to be patient, but warns Gus that delaying could cost him his high standing with the cartel . Successfully baiting Walt with half the money from a drug deal Jesse made through Saul, Gus invites him to his industrial laundromat where he reveals the details of his offer: he has constructed a massive "superlab" underneath the laundromat for mass producing methamphetamine. Receiving legitimate chemical deliveries every week and able to filter the byproducts of cooking meth via the laundry's filtration systems, the facility is capable of producing at least 200 pounds of methamphetamine per week. Swaying Walt with the high-tech apparatus of the lab, he closes the deal by appealing to Walt's pride in providing for his family . With Walt's services engaged alongside Gale Boetticher in the lab, Gus' attention turns to the Cousins, who have taken to sitting in his Los Pollos restaurant all day, ordering nothing and saying nothing. He reiterates that Walt will not die until their business is finished, and offers the Cousins permission to take their vengeance on Hank, who was Tuco's actual killer . However, when the Cousins make their move to kill Hank while he is unarmed in a store parking lot, an anonymous person calls Hank and, using a voice modifier, warns him of the impending attack. It is this warning that allows Hank to get the jump on the Cousins and take them down . After the attack on Hank, Bolsa contacts Gus demanding an explanation, as the Cousins would never have shot Hank without approval. He concedes that meth shipments will be delayed indefinitely, then vows to learn the truth about the assassination plot from the surviving cousin, Leonel. Shortly afterwards, Gus goes to the hospital with a large buffet of fried chicken for the police officers keeping vigil over Hank, also revealing that he is offering a $10,000 reward for information on the assailants. In a room with Walt, Skyler, Marie, Walt Jr. and ASAC Merkert, he mentions that he knew Hank from the fun run sponsorship and that Hank was raising money for Walt's cancer treatments at the time. Walt, speaking to Gus afterwards, expresses that Hank is not a danger to their arrangement but he continues to fear for his family's safety. Gus simply says that he investigates everyone he does business with and doesn't feel there is anything to worry about, as the surviving assassin's survival is doubtful. Shortly afterwards, Leonel goes into cardiac arrest and dies - murdered by a lethal injection from Mike. Following this death, Bolsa calls Gus, angrily stating that he thinks Gus was behind both the authorization of the shooting and the death of the second Cousin, possibly as a move to break away from the cartel. Promising that he will weather the federal attentions and find proof of Gus' treason, he is interrupted by glass breaking and gunfire as unseen assailants gun down his bodyguards and then him. Hearing Bolsa die on the other end, Gus quietly smiles, then disables and discards the cell phone . As the methamphetamine production accelerates, Gus' method of distribution is revealed: he has the meth broken up into pound bags, concealed in buckets of batter for fried chicken marked with a star only visible under ultraviolet light, and taken to other states in Los Pollos Hermanos trucks. Walt, after calculating how much Gus stands to make off the deal - $96 million at wholesale price - meets with him to voice his theory that the establishment of the superlab was part of his overall strategy to cut the cartel out and establish himself as the chief distributor of the Southwest. He also says that he sees the shooting of Hank as part of this play, both to increase federal attention on the cartel and ensure Walt's safety. While not acknowledging the truth of this statement, Gus does agree to a raise and an open-ended extension of Walt's contract - $15 million a year - as well as continued protection of his family . Walter's relationship with Gus is jeopardized when Walter kills two of Gus' dealers to protect Jesse. Gus, along with Mike and Victor, meets Walt in the desert and demands that he explain himself. Walt implies that he suspects Gus of having ordered the dealers to kill 11 year old Tomas, which Gus angrily denies. Gus seemingly accepts Walter's plea to regard the episode as a "hiccup" and allow him to continue cooking meth, but re-appoints Gale as Walter's assistant. Gus visits Gale at his apartment and surreptitiously instructs him to learn Walter's formula so as to be able to replace Walter. Walter again deduces Gus' true intentions and plots with Jesse to kill Gale. Walter surmises that any delay in production would weaken Gus' position and that without Gale, Gus would be forced to retain Walter as the only cook capable of producing the high-quality meth needed to sustain his operations. Walter sets out to kill Gale, but is intercepted by Victor and brought to the lab where Mike is waiting for him. Under the pretext of luring Jesse to the lab to betray him to Mike, Walter convinces Mike to allow him to call Jesse. Instead, Walter instructs Jesse to kill Gale. Victor rushes to Gale's apartment, walks in and sees that Gale has been killed and the neighbors are there, so he quickly leaves. Season 4 Mike calls Gus on his cell phone shortly after he hears from Victor about Gale's death at the hands of Jesse. A while later, he arrives at the superlab, gets undressed, changes into a hazmat suit, and coldly slits Victor's throat (because Victor had carelessly walked into Gale's apartment so that the neighbors could have seen his face), holding him firmly so he will bleed to death quickly (minimizing his suffering) and directing the aim of the blood in Walt and Jesse's direction. He remains eerily calm during the killing, and after he feels Victor die, gazes at the two of them with anger and disappointment and leaves his dead henchman on the floor while he washes up and changes back into his original clothes. The only words he speaks to them are "Well...get back to work" before he exits, leaving them to clean up the mess he made and dispose of the corpse. Gus later tells Mike that he does not want to lay his eyes on Walt ever again, and Mike communicates this to Walt. He also brings in a new henchman, Tyrus, whom he instructs to station himself in the lab and help Walt and Jesse with their cooking. Walt, desperate and fearing for his life, drives to Gus' house at night and plans to kill him. As he walks to the driveway, he gets a phone call from Mike, who is watching him nearby and tells Walt to leave. The Mexican Cartel victimize Gus' men one by one, until a talk is conducted between them. Gus meets with man named Gaff, who claims to represent the Cartel. Gus attempts to negotiate with Gaff, offering a one-time payment of $50 million to the Cartel under the condition that their relationship is terminated. Gaff responds that Gus knows what the Cartel wants, and offers an ultimatum of, "Is it a yes, or a no?" Gaff leaves soon afterwords, and it is implied that Gus chose "no." Hank Schrader becomes convinced that Gus Fring is related to the murder of meth cook Gale Boetticher after a Los Pollos napkin was found in Gale's apartment with a serial number written on it in pen. Hank found this suspicious since Gale's apartment indicated he was a strict vegan. Under the pretense of taking Walter Jr. out to eat, Hank visits Los Pollos Hermanos and talks briefly with Gus. Gus refills Hank's drink, but Hank keeps the cup and bags it as evidence when he reaches his car. After a meeting with Merkert and Gomez, they decide to bring in Gus for questioning. He comes in to the office voluntarily. While waiting outside an office for the interrogation, Gus spots a wanted poster on a billboard across the corridor from him with a sketch depicting Victor. Gus is called in by agents Hank, Gomez, Merkert, and APD detective Tim Roberts, who question why his fingerprints were found at Gale's crime scene. Gus acknowledges meeting with Gale, explaining that Gale had won a chemistry scholarship he funded and that Gale had contacted him recently seeking money for an investment. Just as the inquiry seems to be ending, Hank asks if "Gustavo Fring" is Gus' real name, since Hank can't find anything about that name before Gus immigrated to Mexico. Gus assures him that it is his real name, and that poor record keeping in Chile in the days under Pinochet could explain why Hank could find nothing about his background. With that, Gus is free to go. Hank still has his doubts, but his colleagues agree that he is innocent, his alibi is unquestionable, and that nothing legal can incriminate him. Outside, Gus can be seen twitching his index finger and his thumb, rather tensely. (For Gus, this is a huge display of tension and nervousness.) Since Hank is now suspicious of Gus, he convinces a reluctant Walt to bug Gus' car with a tracking device bought over the counter. Walt sees Gus inside and there is a tense exchange where Walt apologizes for his involvement and Gus' only response is to insist that Walt place the device. After a day of work at one of his restaurants, Gus unclamps the bug, and places it on a newspaper stand outside a Pollos Hermanos. Walt later pleads his innocence through the surveillance camera in the lab, and asks that no revenge be taken against Hank. That said, the two enemies resume their separate routines. Later, Hank and Walter return to a Pollos Hermanos to retrieve their tracking device. Hank plugs the tracker into his PC, but is dissapointed with the results. Apparently, Gus only drove between work and home the entire week. He does discover, however, that all of Gus' restaurant establishments have a common base of operations. Aware of Hank's recent findings, Walt alerts Gus. That same day, Jesse helps Mike clean up any potentially incriminating evidence at the facility. As they are loading a truck outside, one of the workers is shot through the head by a hidden sniper. The crosshairs of the sniper's gun move over to Jesse next, but he is saved at the last second by Mike. Gus hears the shots and emerges from his office, stepping directly into the line of fire. Mike yells at Gus to get down, which Gus ignores. The gunman continues to fire at Gus' feet, and it becomes clear that he is intentionally missing him. The sniper, a man named Gaff who Gus had met with previously, stops firing since it is evident that Gus understands the message. Gus later phones the Cartel from his office, announcing he will capitulate to the Cartel's demands. Jesse makes noise to Mike about the shooting death of his co-worker and walking into bullets superman routine, demanding answers from Gus. He prompts Mike to set up a meeting, but Mike replies, "you got questions? Ask him yourself." Gus invites Jesse to a dinner meeting, and Jesse shows up with the ricin, wondering if he should poison Gus or not. Anxious from the cartel attack, Jesse wants to know what is to become of him and Walt. Gus asks Jesse whether he can cook Walt's formula without help. Angered at the idea of Gus killing off Walt, Jesse insists that he will no longer cook if anything happens to his one-time partner. Gus explains that conditions with the Mexican Cartel have become intolerable and he only wishes to avert an all out war. He asks again, " Can you cook solo?" Gus eventually takes Jesse to Mexico, to the place where his former partner was killed. Jesse is his answer to the cartel's demand. He will offer Pinkman as his olive branch, to teach them how to cook blue meth themselves. He watches proudly as Jesse cooks a 96% pure meth in the cartel lab, proving he is indeed the cook for the job. In celebration, the cartel bosses take Jesse, Gus and Mike to a familiar location: Don Eladio's estate. Gus stares at the pool and swallows a hidden gel capsule as Eladio emerges with his captains. Gus offers Eladio his favorite brand of tequila as a peace offering, and the ever-cautious Don makes sure Gus takes a shot before drinking any himself, along with his captains. As the party begins to rage, Gus excuses himself to go to the bathroom. Once inside, he lays a towel down and discreetly vomits into the toilet. As Gus emerges from the bathroom several cartel members have already begun to fall to the ground. The tequila had been poisoned with a fast acting, lethal toxin. The capsule consumed by Gus delays the effect of the poison allowing him time to purge, narrowly avoiding death. As a weakened Gus walks into his view, Eladio's face contorts with rage and he falls into the pool, dead. Gustavo Fring's twenty-year plan for revenge finally comes to fruition . Making their escape after killing Don Eladio and the Cartel's leadership, Jesse drives a weakened Gus and a wounded Mike to a mekshift emergency room Gus had prepared. Gus recovers quickly but Mike has to stay another week before he can move, so he is left behind. Jesse is told that he will take over cooking meth for Walter, but Jesse says Walter must not be harmed. Gus later visits Hector to tell him that all of the Cartel's leaders are dead, and that the henchman Jesse shot during the escape was Joaquin Salamanca, Hector's grandson, and the last of Hector's relatives . Later, Walter is suddenly tased by Tyrus and brought to the desert where Gus confronts him. Gus tells Walter to stay away from Jesse, and that although he cannot kill Walter due to Jesse's continuing loyalty to him, he asserts that Jesse will inevitably relinquish that loyalty and side with Gus, effectively eliminating what little protection Walter still enjoys. Gus also says that Walter has failed to stop Hank's investigation so Hank will need to be killed, and if Walter interferes, Gus will kill Walter's entire family . In his plot to kill Gus, Walt goes to the retirement home Casa Tranquila to see Hector Salamanca, and points out that as much as Salamanca hates Walt (for having caused Tuco's death), Salamanca hates Gus more. Walt convinces Salamanca to participate in a scheme that would kill both Gus and Salamanca (who presumably is close to death anyway, so it is a sacrifice worth making). Hector Salamanca visits the DEA (this is part of Walter and Salamanca's trap for Gus). Tyrus sees this and notifies Gus. Hector must be killed, and Gus is adamant that he will kill Salamanca himself. After Hector is returned to the nursing home, Tyrus enters and sweeps the place for bugs and cameras in case Hector is now an informant for the DEA. Walt waits outside the window for Tyrus to complete the sweep. When Tyrus leaves to tell Gus it is clear, Walt presumably uses this time to plant a bomb under Hector's wheelchair. Death When Gus arrives, he insults Hector for talking to the DEA. Tyrus prepares a syringe and hands it to Gus. As Gus brings the needle closer to Hector's arm, Hectorshows a moment of fear and finally looks at Gus, something Gus has been asking for at his previous visits. Gus is surprised by the eye contact but will still inject Hector. Hector then musters up an expression of pure wrath. He begins furiously ringing his bell and gradually Gus realizes that it is rigged to the bomb. Gus jumps up to escape, but is a moment too late—the bomb goes off. Gus then walks out of the room, pauses, and straightens his tie with dignity. He then collapses to the floor, dead, as the entire right side of his face has been blown off, exposing his skull and part of his brain. Season 5 Although he is now dead, he is mentioned several times in Season 5, and also is part of the reason Mike begins work with Walter. His situation also causes Walt to become more of the "King". His death also starts a feud between Mike and Walter, and winds up with Mike's death. Characterization When Gustavo Fring was introduced, he was a quiet, humble manager of a fast-food chain with vague ties to the largest meth-distribution ring in the southwestern United States. He was a man of few words, completely unaffected by the trials of running an operation that traffics in murder and deception. Outwardly, not much has changed for Gus; he’s still just as calm and calculated. Giancarlo Esposito said he made to choice to make Gus "graceful." He described him as "someone who is poised to take over the cartel, someone who is poised to manipulate other people into doing what he needs them to do." Gustavo is controlled, cold, powerful, and menacing. However, Gus has been shown to genuinely care about people, noticeably Max Arciniega (the other "hermano" of Los Pollos Hermanos), who Gus took off the street in El Salvador and put him through school and cared for him and was interested in his potential, in developing that potential. While Gus is involved in an illicit business - the creation of blue meth - Giancarlo Esposito says that Gus cares about his business like a family. Because his moral standards are so high, one of the reasons why he murders Victor is not just to send a message, but because Victor made a mistake and he didn’t cover his tracks, and the whole family became at risk. With regards to Jesse, Gus originally viewed him was a loser and stoner. However, he noticed that Jesse really could cook and had potential, which got Gus’ attention. Several times Walt and Jesse have fights that, “Gus is just using you to get at me.” However, it may be more probably that Gus initially judged Jesse as a doper with no talent, but eventually realized that Jesse had potential. He used Jesse to get what he wanted, but also attempt to further Jesse's knowledge and education. There is a fair amount of information that is unknown about Gus's past, which is alluded to when Don Eladio says “I know who you are." It is implied that the whole whole reason that the cartel can’t kill him has to do with him being part of the Chilean Pinochet Government. The flashback reveals what happened with the cartel and why he's been trying to exact his revenge for so long: the reason for his hatred, why he's so closed up and guarded. Murders commited by Gus *'Victor': Sliced his throat with a box-cutter. *'Don Eladio': Poisoned with tainted glass of tequila. *'Another 10 Members of the Juarez Cartel': Poisoned with tainted glass of tequila. Murders connected to Gus *'Marco Salamanca': Shot by Hank through circumstances orchestrated by Gus. *'Leonel Salamanca': Poisoned by Mike on Gus' orders. *'Juan Bolsa': Shot by Mexican federales through circumstances orchestrated by Gus. *'Juan Bolsa's 2 Bodyguards': Shot by Mexican federales through circumstances orchestrated by Gus. *'4 Cartel Assassins': Shot by Mike on Gus' orders. *'2 Cartel Assassins': Shot by Mike to protect Gus' cargo. *'Gaff': Garroted by Mike. *'Joaquin Salamanca': Shot multiple times by Jesse. Quotes Trivia *Gus drove a modest, dark blue Volvo V70 station wagon, as to "hide in plain sight." *Gus' blood type is O-. *Some viewers - including Esposito himself - have interpreted the deep relationship between Gus and Max to be possibly homosexual.http://www.aoltv.com/2011/10/09/gus-fring-giancarlo-esposito-on-breaking-bad/ Series creator Vince Gilligan has chosen to leave the relationship ambiguous, but has said that if you were to infer this about their relationship, you "wouldn't be wrong." References es:Gus Fring Category:Breaking Bad characters Category:Deceased characters Category:Gus' drug empire Category:Murderers Category:Gangsters Category:Business people